Can an employer refuse an employees use of PTO hours past a 40 hour mark?

Question Details:

I was sick for 3 days last week. I put in a request for 24 hours of vacation time. The payroll person only put me in for 16 hours. HR said that it costs the company too much money to allow us over 40 hours unless we've actually worked over 40 hours. Basically, they are telling us when we can and cannot use our earned time. As of right now, I have over 100 hours of PTO/Vacation, but I was only allowed to use 16 hours. Is this legal?

First, companies are not required to provide PTO at all--the law doesn't require it--so whether, when, how much time, etc. you can use is up to the company. The company does not need to follow its own policies on the subject, but if their policy is and has been to not allow use of PTO to put total hours worked in a week past 40, that may be legal and proper; it again, depends on what the policies are and have been stated to be.

Second, your payroll person misunderstands the law--PTO of any kind (comp time, vacation, sick, personal, etc.) does not count for overtime purposes. That is, overtime is based only on *working* more than 40 hours in a week. So if the company's concern is they don't want to pay overtime on PTO, they don't need to worry--they don't have to.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you go to AttorneyPages.com and retain an attorney to represent you.